4 – Production

A total of 8,000 million scm of oil equivalent (oe) has been sold from Norwegian fields. The annual values for oil and gas are shown in Figure 4-1. Measured in oe, more gas than oil has been sold over the last ten years. During the 1985–2010 period, the production of oil was significantly higher than that of gas.

At year-end, 94 fields had the status "in production" on the Norwegian shelf. Production started on five fields in 2021; Duva, Martin Linge, Solveig, Yme and Ærfugl Nord. No fields were shut down in 2021.

It is presumed that 88 discoveries will come on stream. The overall resource estimate for these is 666 million scm of oe., distributed between 54 per cent liquids and 46 per cent gas.

Oil production is presumed to reach a new peak around 2024-2025 of approx. 2 million barrels per day. This is more than 60 per cent of the level in the year 2000. Gas sales have been at a relatively high level over the last ten years and are expected to remain at this level leading up to 2026.

 

Figure 4-1 Historical sales of oil and gas with forecast (dotted lines) leading up to 2026

Without new fields or major investments in existing fields, production from the Norwegian shelf will decline. As a result of high development activity in recent years, we expect production to increase moving forward. Over the short term, the fields that come on stream will offset lower production from ageing fields. The production level is uncertain over the longer term. This will depend, among other things, on which measures are implemented on the fields, which discoveries are approved for development, and when they come on stream. New discoveries, their size and how and when they are developed, will also affect the production level over the longer term.

Historical total production and a forecast leading up to 2031, distributed by maturity of resources, is shown in Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2 Historical total production and forecast distributed by maturity of resources